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Saturday, August 31, 2013

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery.

Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces,

they already knew she wasperilously premature.

Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.

"I don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could.

"There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then,

if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one"

Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems

Dana would likely face if she survived.

She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on.

"No! No!" was all Diana could say.

She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin,

had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four.

Now, within a matter of hours, thatdream was slipping away

But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially 'raw', the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love.

All they could do, as Danastruggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires,

was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.

There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger. But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there.

At last, when Dana turned two months old. her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time.

And two months later,though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life.

She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the end of her story.

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near

her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing.

As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?"

Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied,

"Yes, it smells likerain."

Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?"

Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain."

Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smellslike Him.

It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."

Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other children.

Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, allalong.

During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.

Dearest children, God is near you, watching o’er you day and night and delights to own and bless you, if you strive to do what’s right He will bless you,

In a large mixing bowl, mix together sugar, yeast, milk and water. Cover and allow the yeast to activate and foam for about 5 minutes.

Mix in salt and oil into the yeast.

Using an electric mixer with a dough hook, slowly add flour one cup at a time mixing well after each addition. Tip: Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level off. Don't scoop or pack it in.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for five minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place in a well-greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a lightly warmed place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and divide into two equal pieces. Shape into loaves and place in 2 greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 mins or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. With a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the loaves with egg wash before baking. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and with a pastry brush, lightly brush melted butter immediately after so the crust stays nice and soft.

Directions

Place the crust on a ungreased 12-in. pizza pan. In a small bowl, combine the Miracle Whip, basil, garlic powder and onion powder; spread over crust. Set aside 1/4 cup bacon. Sprinkle cheeses and remaining bacon over crust.

Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with lettuce, tomatoes and reserved bacon. Cut into wedges. Yield: 4-6 servings

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

There is one responsibility which no man can evade; that responsibility is his personal influence. Man's unconscious influence is the silent, subtle radiation of his personality the effect of his words and his acts on others. This radiation is tremendous. Every moment of life man is changing, to a degree, the life of the whole world.

Every man has an atmosphere, which is affecting every other man. He cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character, this constant weakening or strengthening of others. Man cannot evade the responsibility by merely saying that it is an unconscious influence. Man can select the qualities he would permit to be radiated. He can cultivate sweetness, calmness, trust, generosity, truth, justice, loyalty, nobility, and make them vitally active in his character. And by these qualities he will constantly affect the world.

This radiation, to which I refer, comes from what a person really is, not from what he pretends to be. Every man by his mere living is radiating either sympathy, sorrow, cynicism, or happiness and hope or any one of a hundred other qualities.

David O. McKay: BYU address, April 27, 1948

Her mouth speaks from that which fills her heart.

Pray through it

Prayer changes everything

Faith is more about trusting than trying.

Trust in Him

We see possibilities in others, but do we ever dream of the possibilities within ourselves?

What you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you.

Decide to like yourself. Then do it!

Your are a somebody, not a nobody.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Each of us came to this earth with a special mission to perform.

We may not know what it is, but our Heavenly Father knows.

Just as a mechanic needs tools to repair a car, we are all tools in the hands of God. Each tool is different. Each tool is necessary. Do we know what tool we are and which parts we were meant to prepare?

Always remember the outside of a person doesn't usually tell the whole story.

People are like stained glass windows. They glow and sparkle when it's sunny and bright, but when the sun goes down their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

No woman was ever quite like you. The Lord made only one, without carbons. You are not repeated and not repeatable. No one else can do what the Lord sent you to do. The value of what you have to contribute will come through the expression of your own personality, that particular spark of the divine that make you unique, setting you off from every other living creature. The mark you leave on the world, on the hearts and minds of others is as distinct as your thumb print.

Barbara B. Smith

" Each of us comes into this world separately, one by one. This is not an accident. I think it's the Lord's way of reminding us of the infinite worth of each soul."

Life is a state of radiation and absorption. To exist is to radiate: to exist is to be the recipient of radiation. Jesus knows that His kingdom will triumph, and He wants you to triumph with it. He knows in advance every strategy the enemy will use against you and the kingdom. He knows your weaknesses and He knows your strengths. By personal revelation you may discover some of your strengths through a careful and prayerful study of your patriarchal blessing. In prayer you can ask Him to reveal to you your weaknesses so that you can amend your life.

Ezra Taft Benson

When you understand your worth as a daughter of God, you will have a greater desire to turn your weaknesses into strengths and radiate the light of Christ.

"Like the caterpillars who will one day become butterflies, you have the magnificent potential to develop the powers within you and become greater than most of you dare to dream...You have the power and the capacity to perform so well that you can inherit all that our Father has if you begin the process and continue until you become what you are really meant to be...You can choose to use the powers within you to have a happy life ofcontinual growth and development that leads to eternal progression."

Barbara B. Smith

Our task is to become our best selves. One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again,

for no failure ever need be final.

Thomas S. Monson

As we mature spiritually under the guidance of the Holy Ghost,

our sense of personal worth, of belonging, and of identity increases.

James E. Faust

"I testify that the Lord loves women. He watches over us and loves our womanhood-the duties and the responsibilities of our gender-and he can speak to us directly with spiritual messages that are necessary for our personal welfare and for the callings in which we are engaged..."

One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves.

One of our common failings is to depreciate our tremendous worth.

A shallow self-image is not improved by always letting others establish our standards and by habitually succumbing to peer pressure. Young people too often depend upon someone else's image rather than their own.

The Savior doesn't just speak to the masses. He ministered and showed love to the one. They weren't all beautiful and perfect. He looked at their heart. He does with you also.